Fed: Phila. region shows mixed results of late

The Philadelphia region has had a mixed couple of months economically, according to a snapshot report released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.  The district, which includes the eastern two thirds of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and all of Delaware, was one of only two nationwide that didn’t show improvement.

The Beige Book report, which examines economic indicators for just a six-week period, noted some gains in the Philadelphia district’s manufacturing and retail sectors.  But like much of the country, the slow real estate and construction industries dragged the region down.

David Perlman, president of the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia, said the region needs fresh inventory on the market.

“And until the lenders will lend the builders and developers money to build these new projects and move forward, we are going to be sort of status quo,” he said.

It’s hard to see a long-term trend for the region, according to Tim Schiller, the Federal Reserve senior economic analyst who wrote the Philadelphia summary for the Beige Book report.

“At any given time, some area is probably in the situation that the Philadelphia region is in, in that sense that we’re in a bit of a pause in the recovery,” Schiller said.

The St. Louis area was the only other nationwide that didn’t improve.